Posts found under: study

Even when you are not actively listening to classical music you are still benefiting from it.

Does that make sense? Let us explain.

The University of Southern California’s news page cited several studies that show the benefits of passively listening to classical music. One study published in Human Physiology found that children who listened to an hour of classical music a day had greater levels of relaxation, even if they were never explicitly told to pay attention to it. Another published report discovered that students scored higher on tests when their lecture included classical music playing in the background.

“The researchers speculated that the music put students in a heightened emotional state, making them more receptive to information,” USC wrote.

This information can be useful reminder to college and high school students facing finals during this time of year. If you want to be relaxed, focused and retain information, listen to classical music! It is just what your brain needs.

Yet, not all classical music is created equal for studying.

Alan Chapman, host and producer for KUSC (USC’s nonprofit classical music station) explains that orchestral pieces that ranges from “whispers to booming cannons” are too distracting. Instead, choose solo piano pieces, including Mozart sonatas or French piano music by Poulenc, Debussy or Fauré. Chapman also recommend guitar and lute music. To jumpstart your music listening, we included one of our favorite pieces, “Claire de Lune,” which we find so soothing.

Enjoy!

The Music Junction offers piano and voice lessons at our Burbank and Hollywood locations. Call us today to learn more.

“A study by E. Glenn Schellenberg at the University of Toronto at Mississauga, as published in a 2004 issue of Psychological Science, found a small increase in the IQs of six-year-olds who were given weekly voice and piano lessons. Schellenberg provided nine months of piano and voice lessons to a dozen six-year-olds, drama lessons (to see if exposure to arts in general versus just music had an effect) to a second group of six-year-olds, and no lessons to a third group. The children’s IQs were tested before entering the first grade, then again before entering the second grade.

Surprisingly, the children who were given music lessons over the school year tested on average three IQ points higher than the other groups. The drama group didn’t have the same increase in IQ, but did experience increased social behavior benefits not seen in the music-only group.”

“With music lessons, because there are so many different facets involved–such as memorizing, expressing emotion, learning about musical interval and chords–the multidimensional nature of the experience may be motivating the [IQ] effect,” said study author E. Glenn Schellenberg. – Forbes Magazine